Cable-railway grip-car



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. S. W. JACKSON.

CABLE RAILWAY GRIP GAR.

N0. 329,170. Patented Oct. 27, 1885.

MEI-N555 E-5 (No Model.)

' 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. S. W. JACKSON.

CABLE RAILWAY GRIP OAR.

Patented Oct. 27, 1885. 2; 3.

\NITN EEEE J NVENTEIP\ v mm/iu 1 I W QM} (No Motiel.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. S. W. JACKSON.

CABLE RAILWAY GRIP GAR.

No; 329,170. 6f Patented Oct. 27, 1885.

N. PETERS PhntmLilhogr-lphur. Washington. at 0V PATENT Qantas.

SAMUEL w. JACKSON, or CHICAGO, ILLlNOIS.

1 CABLE-RAILWAY GRIP-CAR.

enema-warren forming part of'netters Patent No. 329,170, dated October 2' 1885 Application filed April 25, 1882.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL W. JACKSON, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cable-Railway Grip-Oars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to gripcars for cable railways, and has for its objects, first, to provide a cable-grip which will speedily engage or release the cable in making starts or stops, and which can, when desired to make a jumpi. 6., pass from one cable or circuit to anotherbe made to pass with itsattachments above and entirely free from the cable, its sheaves and drums, while the car is moving with its usual rate of speed; second, to provide means for raising and supporting the cable within reach of the grip-jaws when such cable has been entirely released or dropped, and, third, to provide means for operating the grip and the car-brake with a single lever.

To these ends the invention consists in the devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying. drawings.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a section in the line to w of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a v section in line so 00 of Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Fig. 5

is a section in line y y of Figs; 1 and 2. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the racks which secure the grip and brake-lever, and the rod which lifts the cable and regulates the height thereof.

A A are two vertical flat metal bars, at-

- tached permanently to the bed of the car directly over and in line with the cable-tube slot, and extending downward through said slot into the cable-tube, where they unite to form a single plate, constituting the fixed jaw B of the grip. I

Ois the movable jaw of the grip,of the same size and form as jaw B, and is hinged thereto at c by its upper edge, thus directing the mouth of the grip downward and in line with the cable. Said jaw O has atits upper end Serial No. 59,484. (No model.)

the upwardly and outwardly directed arm 0*, projecting through the space A between bars A A.

D is a vertical slide-bar seated in the space A above the arm 0 of the jaw C. The upper end of said bar D is connected directly or indirectly with the griplever H, or other suitable device, by means of which it is reciprocated vertically. Near its lower end said bar D is embraced and guided by means of crossbars a a, fixed to the bars A A, and said bar D is laterally bent at its lower end in the direction of the free end of the arm 0, said end being provided with a transverse slot, D, through which the upper end of said arm 0' passes. When said bar D is reciproeated, therefore, the inclined arm 0 is moved to and from the bars A, and the jaw O oscillated upon its hinge 0, being closed upon the jaw B when the bar D is raised and opened when said bar is lowered. If desired to reduce the friction incident to such sliding of arm 0 in slot D, the upper and lower sides of said slot may be provided with anti-friction rollers D.

The grip, composed of the jaws B and C, is placed at such a height as to bring the lower edge thereof a short distance above the cable 0 when free, and above the sheaves which support such cable.

'E is a vertical rod arranged to slide longitudinally, and also to rotate in suitable bearings, as e e, such rod being placed along the outer lateral edge of one of the bars A to extend from the lower end of the grip upward through the car -bed to a suitable rack or other device for holding such rod in the desired position and at the required height. v

M, Figs. 1 and 2, issuch a rack, set in a vertical position by the side of the rod E, and provided with any desired number of notches, m m. The upper end of said rod E is bent horizontally to form the arm E, adapted to engage the notches m m. The lower end of said rod has a short horizontal arm, E hearing a pulley, F, the object of which is to raise the cable to a position between the grip-jaws, as will be further explained. The lateral edge of the jaw 0 adjacent to the rod E is provided with the pending arm a, set away from said jaw a short distance, so as to leave a space between the same and said jaw to receive the free end of the arm E thereby preventing the rotation of the rod E when the cable rests on the pulley F.

By the rotative movement described of the rod E the pulley F may be brought into position beneath the cable, as shown in Fig. 2, or swung outward from. beneath the said cable, as indicated in dottedlines of the same figure. When it is desired to engage the cable by the grip B G, the rod E, supposed to be in araised position, is lowered far enough to disengage the pulleyarm E from the retainingrod c, and is then rotated to turn the pulley outward. Said rod is then still further lowered to bring the pulley below the level of the ca ble 0, after which it is rotated back again to bring the pulley beneath the cable. By now lifting the rod E, the pulley will raise the cable to a position between the jaws of the grip, where it may be held until the car is ready to start by engaging the arm E with the rack M.

The grip, as already described, and as indicated in'the drawings, is closed upon the cable by raising the slide-bar D, and when it is desired to stop the car the grip is released by a reverse movement of the slide-bar, and the pulley F continues to sustain the cable, ready to be again seized by the grip. Being grooved the pulley F may obviously be arranged, as shown, to guide the moving cable clear of the grip-jaws, and thereby avoid friction and wear of said cable and jaws.

In making a jump -that is, passing from one link or circuit of the cable to another the grip is operated as follows: On approaching the end of one cable circuit or link, the pulley F is lowered and turned away from the grip, so that it will clear the cable-drums, the cable remaining in the grasp of the jaws B 0. Just before reaching the drums, said jaws are released from the cable, and the latter, by reason of its weight and tension, in-

stantly drops below the edge of said jaws, while the car by reason of its momentum, will continue to move forward,and will pass on to the next circuit, where the new cable is taken up by the pulleyF, and engaged by the grip in the manner above set forth.

The inner faces of jaws B and 0 should be covered with removable plates of wood,which may be replaced by others when worn out by the action of the cable. Fig. 5 shows such jaws as consisting of the plate-metal back I), having the lateral inwardly-directed flanges 1), between which rests a plate of wood, I)", secured by means of the horizontal removable rod or bolt b By varying the height of the cable in the grip, and thereby changing the point of its bearing from time to time, such wooden plates may be made to serve a long time before being worn out.

It is obvious that, if desired, a second rod, E, also bearing a pulley, F, may be placed on the side of the grip opposite that here shown, to be operated in the same manner and either separately or in conjunction with the one described.

G G are vertical friction-rollers, mounted on the outer faces of jawsB and G,to prevent the grip from binding against the wall of the ca ble-tube when the grip comes in contact with such wall while passing curves. Such anti-friction rollers may rest in raised bearings wholly without the face of the grip-jaws, or, if desired to reduce the total thickness of the grip, said rollers may be sunk partially into the faces of said jaws.

The slide-bar D, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, is actuated by a vertical lever, H, which is also connected to simultaneously operate the car-brake. Said lever H is pivoted to the bed of the car at h, and is provided with arms H and H To the arm H is joined the slide-bar D by means of a link, h.

L L are the brakes attached to the lower end of the brake-arms Z, the upper ends of said arms Z being attached rigidly to a horizontal rotating shaft, J, from the middle of which a rigid arm, J, extends horizontally toward the middle of the car.

J 2 is a vertical link which connects the arm H to the arm J.

I is a rack, which may be of any suitable form adapted to hold the lever H in any position desired.

It is obvious that when the lever H is moved in the direction of the arrow the brakes will first be thrown away from the car-wheels L, while by a continuation of the same movement of the lever the bar D will be raised, thereby closing the grip. A reverse movement of the lever similarly first releases the grip and then applies the brake.

Should it be desired to disengage the grip and not engage the brake,"or vice versa, the lever H may be moved through only apart of its range of motion.

My improved guard is shown in Fi gs.1 and 2. Such guards have heretofore been attached to the car-body and provided with a vertical movement, required by the teetering of the car on its springs. As here shown, the guards are supported upon the axles of the car, and will, therefore, stand at any distance given them from the track. Said axles make so little change of position in a vertical direction as to admit of setting the guards almost in contact with the rails.

P P are the guards,which, as here shown, are continuous with the rods or bars P P, resting on the axles N N lengthwise of the car, near the wheels L L, and fastened to said axles by means of suitable journals. Said guards P are bent outward to stand in front of the wheels, so as to remove any obstacle on the track, being carried down to proximate the track as closely as may be desired. Any other form of guard may be similarly supported from the axles with the advantage of maintaining a substantially uniform relation of the track.

The special features of construction in the guard above described will form the subject of a separate application for patent.

IIO

I claim as my invention 1. In a grip-car for cable railways, the grip having its jaws arranged to open downward toward the cable, in combination with a laterally and vertically movable lifting-pulley for raising the cable from the cable-pulleys into position to be engaged by the jaws, and a pivotally-mounted support for said pulley, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with a cable-car grip having its mouth directed downward toward the cable, a rotating and reciprocating rod, E, bearing a pulley, F, together with means for supporting said rod, substantially as described.

3. In combination with a cablegrip having its mouth directed'downward, the rack M,and the rotating and reciprocating rod E,provided with the laterally-projecting pulley F, and arm E substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In combination with the rotating and reciprocating rod E, provided with the laterally-projecting pulley F, a retaining-guide, 0', operating to hold the rod from rotation when raised, substantially as described.

5. In a cable-car grip, the combination, with the wooden jaw-facing, of a metal backprovided with marginal flanges 12, arranged to retain the wood facing on two sides,and the removable bolt 12, passing through said flanges and through the facing, whereby the latter may be conveniently replaced, substantially as described.

6. In a cable-railway grip-car,the combination, with a grip-actuating bar, D, and with brake mechanism, of asinglelever,H, connected to actuate both grip and brake, substantially as described.

7. In a cable-railway grip-car, thecombination, with the vertically-reciprocating grip-bar D and the vibrating brakes L, of the lever H, fulcrumed at its lower end, and provided with arms H and H respectively connected with the grip bar D and the braking mechanism, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

hi SAMUEL w. JAoKsorL.

mark.

Witnesses:

S. ARTHUR WALTHER, CYRUS KEHR. 

